Immigration Enforcement

The failure of Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform has led to inhumane and unjust enforcement-only initiatives that have torn families apart and cost our country billions of dollars. While immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency is increasingly using local law enforcement and jails in its operations. These opaque and ill-defined policies and practices entangle our immigration and criminal justice systems and lead to a detention-deportation pipeline with little accountability or due process.

Over the years, these federal enforcement programs have had different branding, but their end result is the same - separation of families, increase in racial profiling, and diversion of critical resources away from real public safety efforts. Furthermore, these policies strain localities by requiring them to detain individuals on behalf of the federal government, bear the risk of litigation for constitutional violations, and foot the bill.

TIRRC works to end these unjust and inhumane deportation programs. We advocate for the disentanglement of immigration with the criminal justice system and for fair and humane policies that keep families together.

Know Your Rights

Immigrants and refugees have certain rights and protections, no matter what changes are made to immigration policy. Especially as we anticipate an increase in interactions between immigrant communities and immigration enforcement agents (ICE), it is critical that immigrant families know how to defend their rights. Click here for Know Your Rights resources.